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Central Government, Citizen Engagement, Policy

UK govt launches Twitter guide for civil servants

By Robin Hicks | 28 July 2009

The UK government is developing a strategy for civil servants to use the microblogging service Twitter in the hope of giving government an “informal, human voice” with which to communicate with the public.

Neil Williams, Head of Corporate Digital Channels at Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) has written a guide advising that departmental tweets should be frequent, timely and credible.

He suggests using exclusive content such as “insights from ministers” and “updates on their movements” in a light or “human” style.

Williams, who posted the guide on the Cabinet Office’s digital engagement blog, said the tone of departmental tweets must be different to what is normally published in press releases and RSS feeds.

In terms of time and resources, the guide recommends sending two to 10 tweets every working day, with at least 30 minutes between each. “This should require less than an hour a day of working time, plus one day every three months for evaluating the output” it said.

Downing Street, the Foreign Office and the Communities and Local Government department are among 19 central government departments to have official Twitter feeds and the recent Digital Britain, into the future of creative industries, had its own feed run by a team at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

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